This invention relates to a process for catalytically hydrogenating triglyceride oil and more particularly to hydrogenating in extremely rapid fashion oil containing contaminant soap.
Heretofore it has been proposed to catalytically hydrogenate oil in the presence of nickel catalyst, copper-chromite catalyst (optionally metal oxide stabilized), or a combination of these two catalysts. Typically, the oil is touched-up to prevent rancidity or is made to a shortening consistency-like product (IV suitably about 60-65) when the combination of the two catalysts is used. The feed oil has been refined to remove contaminant soap and free fatty acid which tend to poison the catalysts and to render them ineffective in the hydrogenation process.
The present invention now makes it possible to catalytically hydrogenate oil in the presence of relatively high proportions of contaminant soap and of free fatty acid. The hydrogenation process proceeds very rapidly when producing a hydrogenated oil product having an Iodine Value of 60-100 and astonishingly rapid when producing a product stearine having an Iodine Value of less than about 30. The hydrogenation process is maintained by adjusting the proportion of adjunct catalyst proportional to the concentration of soap and free fatty acid contaminants in the feed oil.